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History · Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown’s post office opened in 1840, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Rose Hotel. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1880.

1840first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elizabethtown began

When was Elizabethtown founded?

1840

The Elizabethtown post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 484 in 18802020 census: 220186 years
Founding year: the first Elizabethtown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Elizabethtown’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elizabethtown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,055 in 1920; 220 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1996. Watch Elizabethtown change.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Elizabethtown.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elizabethtown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elizabethtown’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Elizabethtown, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,055

Peaked at 1,055 in 1920; 220 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elizabethtown’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Elizabethtown on the map, 1916 to 1996

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elizabethtown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Elizabethtown on the 1916 USGS mapElizabethtown on the 1954 USGS mapElizabethtown on the 1996 USGS map1916Golconda sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elizabethtown.

The story

How Elizabethtown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elizabethtown.

Read it all →

One of the earliest settlers in the area of the future village of Elizabethtown was James McFarland who arrived around 1809. The village was later founded around the McFarland Tavern built in 1812. The tavern later became the site of the Rose Hotel named after the owner Sarah Rose. Up until the 1960s when it closed as a hotel the Rose Hotel was the oldest continuously run hotel in the state of Illinois and is now a state historic site. Elizabethtown was named after James McFarland's wife. The First Baptist Church located in Elizabethtown, is the oldest Baptist church congregation in Illinois and the oldest known Protestant church in Illinois, founded in 1806.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elizabethtown, 1813 to 1920

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1813BuiltRose Hotel is built
  3. 1840Post officeThe Elizabethtown post office opens
  4. 1867Born hereWilliam Augustus Ayres is born here
  5. 1887Born hereDicta Johnson is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,055
By decade

Elizabethtown, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Main Street2016Main StreetElizabethtown post office 629312016Elizabethtown post office 62931Rose Hotel in2013Rose Hotel inHardin County Courthouse2008Hardin County CourthouseElizabethtown, Illinois2008Elizabethtown, Illinois
On the National Register

1 historic place in Elizabethtown

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Rose Hotel
Rose Hotel, built 1813
Buildings
Rose HotelBuilt 1813

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Elizabethtown

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
William Augustus AyresAmerican politician · b. 1867
D
Dicta JohnsonAmerican baseball pitcher · b. 1887

Questions about Elizabethtown’s history

What year was Elizabethtown founded?

The Elizabethtown post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Elizabethtown?

One place: the Rose Hotel (listed 1972).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.